The jury in the Vienna terror trial deliberated late into the night.

The message came around one o'clock.

Four defendants have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms: two to life, one to 20 years and one to 19 years for terrorism-related offenses in connection with murder.

Two men are exonerated in the main, but each receive two years in prison for membership in the terrorist organization "Islamic State" and dissemination of IS propaganda.

Stephen Lowenstein

Political correspondent based in Vienna.

  • Follow I follow

It has thus been determined by the first instance that the assassin, who killed four people in Vienna on November 2, 2020 and injured several, some seriously, before he was shot himself, did not act as a lone perpetrator.

The judgments are not yet final.

The main perpetrator, KF, had apparently walked into downtown Vienna that evening, armed with an assault rifle, a pistol and a machete and wearing a dummy explosive vest.

He shot at passers-by who were romping around in the “Bermuda Triangle”, as the nightlife area there is called, on the last day before an announced corona lockdown.

He was quickly apprehended by police officers.

He was shot dead ten minutes after his first shot.

A self-incrimination video appeared online, in which KF described himself as an IS supporter.

Firearms and ammunition provided

First of all, a search was made for other possible shooters and the city center was sealed off and local transport blocked.

Then it was said that it was a lone perpetrator.

This thesis seemed to be confirmed by the fact that there was no indication that anyone had driven or accompanied him to the scene of the crime.

But the trial, which has been taking place before the Vienna Criminal Court for 15 days since autumn 2022, has shown that KF had been supported and encouraged by like-minded people before the crime, sometimes even immediately beforehand.

The man who had procured the firearms and ammunition for KF was sentenced.

The 32-year-old Chechen is the only one of the accused who was not believed to have an IS connection, but he received a life sentence for involvement in the murder.

The young man who put KF in touch with the Chechen was also convicted as a contributor as a co-organizer of arms procurement and as a member of a terrorist organization.

He was sentenced to 19 years in prison because he was under 21 at the time.

The jury, which deliberated in detail under the guidance of three professional judges, also followed the indictment for the other two people convicted in the main action.

The two IS supporters therefore supported and encouraged KF in preparing the attack up to the day of the attack itself. One helped to choose the target of the attack (as the search history on his smartphone showed) and made escape preparations by getting forged papers.

He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, also considering his youth.

The other has also been involved since the summer of 2020, helping to prepare guns, ammunition and other paraphernalia at the assassin's home.

He received a life sentence.

The court assumed that the other two defendants were IS supporters and that they were spreading propaganda from the organization.

But the jury did not find it proven that they were actually involved in the attack.

One of those two was the man who drove KF to Slovakia in the summer of 2020, where the later assassin tried (to no avail) to buy ammunition.

The chauffeur had stated that he had driven everyone everywhere out of the joy of having his own car, but that he knew nothing of the terrorist intentions.

The two waived appeals, the others announced an appeal.

The public prosecutor's office initially made no statement.

The judgments are therefore not final.